Ok so my one touch ultra glucose test strips are late and its almost the weekend, I basically have 4 test strips left. I checked yesterday on how much they’ll cost over the counter at my local farmacy… 134 bucks (money I can’t really spend right now). What I was thinking is if I can get some sample test strips from them just to hold me over till my shipment gets here… has anyone tried this before… or am I just dreaming? Any ideas? Thanks Guys!
Walmart and Target both have house brands with strips for about $20/50. The meters themselves are also fairly inexpensive
Did you try calling your endo’s office? Sometimes mine has samples (or sample meters of another brand that they can give out). Oh and even the One Touch Ultra Mini is about $20 or so. Does that come with a vial of test strips inside?
The ultra mini does not come with strips. You can try the True to Go or Sidekick meter - I fins it to be very accurate - it is a small circular meter that fits/screws onto the vial of strips - usually comes with 10 strips for $9.99 (and usally a rebate as well for $9.99). Additional strips for that meter are around $35 for 50. The pharmacy will not have sample strips.
The above are good suggestions and the advantage to a cheap meter is you’ll always have it as a back up for the future. Worse case scenario is to do like was done before the introduction of meters to diabetes management. One advantage you have already over back then is a basal insulin dose.
Back in the day rigid dosing and eating to a fixed schedule/quantity was the norm. You know your carb ratios and probably even have an idea of some meals/foods that are so predictable you can bolus for them in your sleep. Reserve your test strips strictly for a possible correction once a day. That and a little caution to avoid lows over the next few days should suffice. Yes, you may run higher than your used to, but statistcally speaking the next few days are a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of your life.
Personally however, considering the price of a cheap meter and strips I’d opt for getting that first before going back to the days of yester year in managment.
Problem solved, THANKS EVERYONE!